“Traffic cams in Blackridge are sparse,” Lynx said, fingers flying. “But look here.” He pointed to a grainy image. “Black van, no plates, heading north on Mountain Road. Timestamp puts it ten minutes after Vivi would have arrived at the coffee shop.”
“Can you track it?” Ian’s voice was deadly calm. Too calm.
“Trying. But Mountain Road splits into three different routes. If he went off-road...” Lynx trailed off.
They all knew what that meant. Derek could be anywhere.
Claire forced herself to think. To profile. Derek was smart. Methodical. He’d been planning this for months. Maybe years. She’d thrown him a curveball coming to Montana, and he was escalating since he couldn’t get to her. First, by killing Rebecca Martinez, now by taking Vivi.
“He’s going to make contact,” Claire said.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“He took Vivi, rather than killing her on the spot, to draw me out,” she continued. “He wants me to know he has her. He’ll make demands.”
“How soon?” Wolf asked.
The anniversary of Lily’s death was today. “Today,” Claire said. “The longer he waits, the more time we have to find him, and he wants to stick to his original timeline.”
As if on cue, Lynx’s computer chimed. “Incoming message, routed through multiple servers.” He pulled it up on the main screen.
A photo appeared of Vivi, bound to a chair in what looked like a cabin. Her face was pale but defiant. A gag covered her mouth. Behind her was darkness and rough wooden walls. Below the photo was text that read:
Claire comes to me. Alone. Two hours. Coordinates below. Or Dr. Montgomery dies the way Lily did.
Claire’s blood ran cold. The coordinates appeared. “That’s deep in the mountains north of town,” Wolf said. His eyes cut to Lynx. “Trace it,” he ordered.
“Already on it,” Lynx said. “He’s bouncing the signal through... Commander, this is NSA-level encryption. He’s good.”
“He’s a former Navy electronics tech,” Claire said. “He knows how to hide.”
Ian was studying the photo, his jaw working. “That cabin. It’s remote, off-grid.”
“We have two hours,” Detective Mills said. “We can get search teams?—”
“It’s my cabin,” Wolf said, and everyone stopped. “He’s making this personal for me, too. He expects me to show up.”
“No.” Claire’s voice was clear. Certain. “He’s expecting me. He wants me, not you. If I don’t go, he kills her.”
“Absolutely not,” Wolf said. His tone left no room for argument.
Claire turned to face him. “This works with your plan, don’t you see? I have to go. We don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice. And the choice is not sending you into a trap alone.”
“I’m an FBI agent. I’ve been trained for exactly this kind of?—”
“You’re the target!” Wolf’s voice echoed through the room. “He wants you dead, Claire. That’s the entire point of this. Vivi is bait. And he’s thumbing his nose at me.”
“I know that.” Claire kept her voice level. “Which is why I’m the only one who can do this. He’ll be watching for a tactical team, for you. But me, alone? That’s what he wants. That’s what I’ll give him.”
“And then what?” Wolf demanded. “He kills you like he killed Lily? He’ll kill Vivi, too, just like he killed four other women. That’s your plan?”
Claire stepped closer, lowered her voice so only he could hear. “My plan is to trust you. To trust your team. You’ll be there. But Derek can’t know that. He has to believe I’m following his orders.”
“Claire—”
“Vivi has been nothing but kind to me. Helpful. Now, she’s in danger because of me.” Claire’s voice cracked. “I won’t let another person die because Derek Sullivan is obsessed with me.”
